Boeing wants to boost China's order

The Boeing Co. aims to win orders for 20 more planes in China this year to protect its lead over Airbus in that country, an executive said Wednesday.

The company plans to sell 120 planes in China this year, matching last year's total, Rob Laird, vice president of China sales said. The Chicago-based company signed an order for 80 Boeing 737s from Chinese airlines Tuesday and booked an order for 20 more aircraft in January.

China's airlines are expanding their fleets to meet travel demand in the world's fastest-growing major economy, ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Boeing, which leads Airbus in China with 63 percent of the commercial aircraft in operation, is trying to sell Chinese airlines cargo aircraft and 777-series jets, which include the world's longest range passenger aircraft.

"Asia, especially China, is the most vital market for Boeing and Airbus as there is only limited demand growth on other continents," said Ella Li, an analyst with Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co. in Shanghai.

"However, there is a danger that the airlines will have more planes than there is passenger demand for."

The majority of the 80 planes ordered Tuesday will be delivered in 2009, with others coming in 2010.

That news, in addition to an upbeat assessment by Morgan Stanley of its earnings prospects, pushed Boeing's shares up $2.64, or 3.3 percent, to close Wednesday at $83.21, the latest in a series of all-time highs.

The company is also pushing to sell cargo planes to Chinese airlines.

Air China Ltd., the nation's biggest airline, China Southern Airlines Co. and other carriers flew a record 3.04 million tons of cargo last year, 14 percent higher than a year earlier, according to official statistics.

Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to visit Boeing's factory in Everett on Wednesday.